National Forest's Design Hub

Name: National Forest // Co-Founded by Seven Harrington and Justin Krietemeyer Location: Atwater Village; Los Angeles, CaliforniaSize: 2,400 square feetYears lived in: We’ve been in this building for seven years. We were down the road before that and a home-loft in the very beginning.

National Forest is a design firm and creative consultancy located in Atwater Village. Co-founded and co-owned by Steven Harrington and Justin Krietemeyer, they have had the opportunity to collaborate with some incredible talent and brands such as Target, Roxy, Urban Outfitters, and French retailer Colette. Welcome to their design hub.

This is a creative firm that clearly believes in fun, artistic expression and the use of color! Having occupied this incredible space for the past seven years, they make great use of its square footage. Part gallery, part work shop, part office...they even have an outdoor space large enough to host parties and wonderful photography studio set up.

When it comes to such a collaborative space such as this, aesthetic and design are everything. They believe the "vibe" of the space is most essential. "The vibe has to fit the function. It comes down to how big is the space, who’s in it, how is music played, is there a dog, etc…"

Collectively they believe that the most significant thing about their office is the people that occupy it: "It is a privilege to come in every morning." Lifestyle and culture play a huge part in their design aesthetic— "The weather in Los Angeles is mostly sunny, and always warm. The beach is 35 min away, and the mountains are 25 min away in the other direction. These simple facts create a very chill and easygoing lifestyle and culture to the city, which also finds its way into our design and work."

Favorite Element: We have tons of skylights everywhere. It is rare that we turn on the lights. In our old studio, we would come back from lunch and need a nap but with all the natural light we can now go HAM all day long.

Biggest Challenge: Live / work balance.

What Friends Say: Where’s the party, or where’s the beer, or maybe I should let you get back to work.

Biggest Embarrassment: We have a storage unit that houses some really strange things such as 4 foot tall Kid Robot vinyl toy, and too many collaborative products to count. We just like all our past projects so much we can’t get rid of anything.

Proudest DIY: We are working on a Jamaican dub sound-system. It is a mix of furniture, sculpture, and acoustics. It has been a long haul sourcing all the components, but we’re pretty excited about the results.

Biggest Indulgence: Our speakers are bigger than the space requires.

Best Advice: Make work you believe in, in a space you enjoy doing it.

Dream Sources: Our brain—when we purchase a space, we would definitely want to design it out ourselves instead of purchasing.